The hour was late, and I was anxious to get out of the city and head to the Berkshires for the weekend. Waiting for me in the underground garage was an Alpine White BMW 335i with all-wheel drive. That would be a joy to many but I viewed the ride with somewhat mixed emotions.

Unlike the vast majority of motoring journalists, I have never been a huge fan of BMWs. I’ve found them a bit austere and more technical than I like. In addition, I’ve felt somewhat chagrined that I couldn’t appreciate all the dynamic attributes so enjoyed by my professional colleagues. Instead of testing a car’s full limits, or even nine-tenths, I’m more of a six-tenths driver.

Two and a half hours later, after covering 100 miles, I had been converted. This BMW, with this engine and driveline combination, and this interior was actually what I had needed on that winter night. The 3-liter, 300-horsepower inline six-cylinder engine provided just the right amount of seamless power on the highways to zig around the laggards and lag behind the leaders. At the same time, the razor-sharp steering, curve-hugging traction and responsive brakes produced, if anything, a bit too much confidence. Surprisingly, the white BMW didn’t attract any unwanted attention from local law enforcement officials.

The following day, I got a chance to confirm my early impressions in the daylight. Instead of the usual black, the chestnut brown leather interior in my test car provided needed warmth so often lacking in BMWs, and the wood grain instrument panel was a huge improvement over the typical gray carbon fiber or piano black trim. And unlike on its higher-end models, BMW hasn’t abandoned the traditional single-function shift lever, a welcome touchpoint for gear changes

Sure, there are some things about BMWs that drive me nuts. The single-knob instrument controller, known as iDrive, is too complicated for me to master in a single weekend. Paying $52,445 (the as-tested price; base is $42,300) for a car with less-than-commodious back seat leg room seems a bit much. And I’m conflicted about the image associated with BMW owners.

But the 335i xDrive (formerly the 335xi) was a BMW I could love. And I didn’t even get a chance to drive it in the snow. That will have to wait for another time – one that I will anticipate with relish.

2009 Acura TL Tech

As the prices of entry-level German luxury cars like the BMW 3-series and Audi A-4 creep closer to $50,000, a gap has opened with models from Japanese luxury brands Acura and Infiniti.

If the new arrivals can’t compete with the Germans on heritage and brand equity, they can at least give the Europeans a run for their money on function, performance, and–most of all–value.

Acura is the most anonymous of luxury brands, and despite years of Effort by its parent Honda, IT has only succeeded in raising its profile by a smidgen. Acura is an interesting problem in reputation: The Honda brand rates highly with enthusiasts, but Acura gets very little traction.

I enjoyed my weekend in the TL, to my mind the most engaging of the Acuras. The styling was eye-catchingly attractive without being over the top, and its performance, provided by a 3.5-liter 280-horsepower V6, was sprightly without being aggressive. All the features, including navigation system with voice recognition, and rear-view camera, were included as standard equipment in the base price of $39,445 including delivery.

Infiniti G37 Sedan Journey

The TL felt like a paradigm of the sport sedan, but only until I climbed into the Infiniti. Eight inches shorter than the TL and more than four inches narrower, it felt like putting on a slim-fit shirt compared with the Acura. Less steel means less weight: The Infiniti is also 135 pounds lighter than the Acura. And with its burly, 3.7-liter, 325-hp V6, the Infiniti handily wins drag strip honors. It gets to 60 miles per hour in a brisk 5 seconds, according to auto research group Edmunds, vs. 6.7 seconds for the Acura.

Enthusiasts, who see Infiniti as the most likely challenger to BMW, will tell you that the G37’s rear drive trumps the Acura’s front drive in handling and cornering. I couldn’t choose between them, and presumably the difference would be narrowed further by the all-wheel-drive options available on both. The Infiniti also carries a lower base price of $33,700, though the premium, sport and navigation packages cranked that up to $42,135 on the test car.

The TL and the G37 both represent excellent value, and I would be happy with either one. If you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose, I’d take the Acura–I’m a looser fit kind of guy.

As 2008 comes to an end, the future of Saab remains unresolved. Its owner, General Motors, has announced it is examining “all the possible options” for the money-losing Swedish automaker.

One option is a sale. The list of potential buyers sounds like a roundup of the usual suspects who might benefit from a damaged European sub-luxury brand in need of significant investment: a Korean, Chinese, or Indian automaker.

If they can’t be induced into making a purchase, then a liquidation seems likely. Saab has been struggling for a way to sustain itself for more than a decade. But its limited product line, high-cost Swedish manufacturing base, and lack of any brand identity that broadens it beyond the invariable description of “quirky,” has doomed it to a marginal existence.

Sadly, the 2009 9-3 Aero Sport that I drove in December isn’t likely to change that. Amazingly, this is the first made-in-Sweden Saab to come equipped with all-wheel-drive. That in itself tells you a lot about Saab’s ability to react to the market. Over in Germany, Audi, which once competed with Saab in the sub-luxury market, has made a name for itself with its own Quattro all-wheel-drive system (and has of course since become a true luxury competitor to BMW and Mercedes Benz.)

The rest of my Saab was well equipped with a 2.8 liter, 6-cylinder, 24-valve, dual overhead cam engine putting out 280 horsepower. The only drawback was the six-speed manual transmission, which didn’t add enough fun-factor to make up for the inconvenience of shifting.

The sophisticated all-wheel drive system, which Saab calls XWD, continuously distributes torque between the front and rear wheels up to 100% in either direction. Despite several hundred miles of driving, I never got a chance to test its full potential.

And despite a panoply of standard equipment, ranging from headlamp washers to front and rear fog lights, nothing in my Saab felt special enough to justify the as-tested sticker price of $45,355. Saab owners are renowned for their lack of pretense, but for that amount of money, I want to feel slightly indulged, not as though I’m wearing a hair shirt. The carbon fiber in the Saab interior is not a substitute for wood grain.

With worthy competitors like the Audi A4 and BMW’s 328xi, investing in a Saab at this moment in its history is making a big leap of faith. Any car brand is worth preserving if it can continue to deliver on its original promise, but that is unclear with Saab. I wish it well, but I can’t be optimistic about its future.